As some of you will remember from posts on Facebook (when I could still get there)…the concussion I had in 2018 came from being bucked off by Mocha, a mare I had recently bought but not yet ridden (except that first brief ride with her former owner there) on the day she tossed me head Read More…
Tag: life beyond writing
Ride 20: Reverse Circumnavigation of the East Grass: No Deer, No Drama
It was a day of seconds and one first, but we’ll take it in order. A day of perfect weather for a ride, whether long or short (this was short, under a half hour, more like 20 minutes, but somewhat strenuous for the rider.) Rags is improving steadily at accepting both halter and bridle and Read More…
Ride 19: When a Calm Horse Spooks Hard
An interesting ride. Instructive in multiple ways. The goal today was to ride around the East Grass, not right on the perimeter but in clear sight of all of it, for Rags’ awareness of place and routes. To start with, mounting went much better except for one little glitch (mine.) I was able to mount Read More…
Hockham Road Level Crossing: Example of Accident Investigation
This was just one of the accident/near-miss investigations I read from the RAIB site, thanks to Mike D sending me the link. It’s an excellent example (so were others, but this one had colored images enough to really “feel” the whole accident and its precursors on both the train side and the signallers’ side.) Read More…
Ride 16: The Other Half of West Grass
Last week was a cold, wet, muddy, colder, icy mess. This week was lovely, but the horses had a hoof trim in the middle of it. I was still trying to get all the caked mud off their coats and out of their hooves…once it dried neither horse felt I should be tugging at the Read More…
Sunny Week Ahead: But Will It Last?
Climate change right here has *generally* made winters less severe, warmer, but has also shifted the dates of first and last freeze, and first and last 100F days of summer. When we moved here, just over 40 years ago, the first cool break came in late August–not much cooler by day, but “crisper,” with a Read More…
Winter Storm 2022: Still Here
We’ve had the first burst of sun (about half an hour ago) and though clouds covered again within a minute, they were thinner. I see occasional streaks of blue as they blow past. We’re fine (but gee whillikers is it cold outside with the wind…!) It’s up around 20F now, but if the sun does Read More…
The Hard Question: How?
I’ve mentioned before that my mother was trained as an engineer–architectural, mechanical, and–later–aeronautical. As a result, my childhood was shaped by, among other things, her engineer-brain, which operated across domains usually thought of as engineering (machinery, buildings) and usually thought of as “women’s stuff” (needlework including designing garments, slipcovers, curtains, etc., storage of household things, Read More…
Ride 13: Lessons to learn
I did ride today–bright, sunny, chilly day–but not until later in the afternoon than I wanted, due to a site visit from the solar people in the morning and some internal upset. Finally all that was out of the way, and I got on Rags with some difficulty but measurably less than when I started. Read More…
Pancakes for Supper
A dank, drippy, chilly day. Dull…misty among the trees in the distance, raw in the nose and throat up close. We had my homemade Survival Soup at lunch and R- came in where I was reading and asked if he could have soup for supper. I thought a minute and said yes, but I wanted Read More…